Calgary bars and bottle shops: A New Hope?

Just checking to see if there's anything new and good/ok out there.
Willow Park and the bottle shop in Kensington were my best beer bets, if i recall correctly. Barwise, i pretty much recall it being better to stay at home and drink your bottle purchases.

Just checking to see if there's anything new and good/ok out there.
Willow Park and the bottle shop in Kensington were my best beer bets, if i recall correctly. Barwise, i pretty much recall it being better to stay at home and drink your bottle purchases.

I'm there in...a day? So any newish tips would be great.

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Oak and Vine in Inglewood is great, I know for a fact they have Kriek, RDG, Grand Cru and Iris in the fridge hidden away, they are weird about selling it though. Kensington Co-op is great also and of course Willow Park, I find Kensington Wine to be pretty pricey.

The bar scene, Last Best has a bottle shop downstairs that has decent stuff (Ale Apothecary, possibly still Cantillon) and its not terribly expensive, Bottlescrew Bills has a vintage lambic list, the 09 Iris is gone now but still OG Tilquin, 2011 3F OG and some others.

Oak and Vine in Inglewood is great, I know for a fact they have Kriek, RDG, Grand Cru and Iris in the fridge hidden away, they are weird about selling it though. Kensington Co-op is great also and of course Willow Park, I find Kensington Wine to be pretty pricey.

The bar scene, Last Best has a bottle shop downstairs that has decent stuff (Ale Apothecary, possibly still Cantillon) and its not terribly expensive, Bottlescrew Bills has a vintage lambic list, the 09 Iris is gone now but still OG Tilquin, 2011 3F OG and some others.

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thanks!
guess you wouldn't have natural wine suggestions either, would you? drink in or take home

I find myself at Trolley Five a fair bit, worth a stop if your on 17th. I cant argue with hoptemologist's suggestions, if you stop by Kensington Co-op say hi to me, if your still in town anyways.......

I find myself at Trolley Five a fair bit, worth a stop if your on 17th. I cant argue with hoptemologist's suggestions, if you stop by Kensington Co-op say hi to me, if your still in town anyways.......

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here until tuesday, so you may see me. guessing you're not open on family day?

I find myself at Trolley Five a fair bit, worth a stop if your on 17th. I cant argue with hoptemologist's suggestions, if you stop by Kensington Co-op say hi to me, if your still in town anyways.......

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went to T5 yesterday. yeah, totally not my thing. lots of ballcaps, music was banging, a big, cold space. felt corporate.
beer-wise, i tried the lager and the NEIPA. lager was a munich bomb and not my thing. the NEIPA missed the mark (too much dank, not enough juice, and colour was pretty brown). maybe they're still finding their way, but yeah...not my scene.

went to T5 yesterday. yeah, totally not my thing. lots of ballcaps, music was banging, a big, cold space. felt corporate.
beer-wise, i tried the lager and the NEIPA. lager was a munich bomb and not my thing. the NEIPA missed the mark (too much dank, not enough juice, and colour was pretty brown). maybe they're still finding their way, but yeah...not my scene.

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Too bad on Trolley 5 have had some good beers there. Dandy and Annex seem to be the brewpubs I hit the most. Dandy has some fun and Stephen Beaumont was complementary about Annex’s beers.

Up near Dandy there are a bunch of new breweries with taprooms that opened but none of the rooms have much atmosphere. Zero Issue and Common Ground are almost across the street from each other.

Also if you have time there is a maltster/brewery in Strathmore that it is fun and the beers were interesting on our only visit. Lots of styles to showcase their malt. It is cool to see all the farmers and locals getting into craft beer. The place is family oriented with food trucks.

For next visit there is a new brewpub place called Paddy’s that does barbecue place that is only open Wednesday to Saturday that we checked out when it first opened at couple months ago. It is owned by a long time family run catering company.

Other than hit one of the National’s happy hours 3 to 6 if you don’t groove on the locals they have DdC’s Disco Soleil on tap.

Too bad on Trolley 5 have had some good beers there. Dandy and Annex seem to be the brewpubs I hit the most. Dandy has some fun and Stephen Beaumont was complementary about Annex’s beers.

Up near Dandy there are a bunch of new breweries with taprooms that opened but none of the rooms have much atmosphere. Zero Issue and Common Ground are almost across the street from each other.

Also if you have time there is a maltster/brewery in Strathmore that it is fun and the beers were interesting on our only visit. Lots of styles to showcase their malt. It is cool to see all the farmers and locals getting into craft beer. The place is family oriented with food trucks.

For next visit there is a new brewpub place called Paddy’s that does barbecue place that is only open Wednesday to Saturday that we checked out when it first opened at couple months ago. It is owned by a long time family run catering company.

Other than hit one of the National’s happy hours 3 to 6 if you don’t groove on the locals they have DdC’s Disco Soleil on tap.

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had a bottle of the Dandy sour. didn't love it on first sip, but it grew on me.
no time tomorrow to check any places out. hopefully there's still some growth ahead for Alberta. amazing that Manitoba's overtaken Alberta as far as breweries and quality of breweries.

had a bottle of the Dandy sour. didn't love it on first sip, but it grew on me.
no time tomorrow to check any places out. hopefully there's still some growth ahead for Alberta. amazing that Manitoba's overtaken Alberta as far as breweries and quality of breweries.

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Don’t agree on your opinion on Manitoba over taking Alberta, you have to check out Blind Man and Blind Enthusiasm next trip. Think Keep Six is even going to start working with Blind Enthusiasm in Ontario soon.

had a bottle of the Dandy sour. didn't love it on first sip, but it grew on me.
no time tomorrow to check any places out. hopefully there's still some growth ahead for Alberta. amazing that Manitoba's overtaken Alberta as far as breweries and quality of breweries.

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Nah, I can't even keep up with the new Alberta breweries. I wouldn't be surprised if Alberta, per capita, had the largest number of craft breweries opening lately in the country.

If you happen to drive North a bit to Airdrie, there is a great craft beer store called "Thumbprint." A bottle shop with growler fills. They sell ONLY craft beer, none of the big guys there.

had a bottle of the Dandy sour. didn't love it on first sip, but it grew on me.
no time tomorrow to check any places out. hopefully there's still some growth ahead for Alberta. amazing that Manitoba's overtaken Alberta as far as breweries and quality of breweries.

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Should have hit Last Best! I won't deny we have a long ways to go but we are well ahead of Manitoba in my opinion

Don’t agree on your opinion on Manitoba over taking Alberta, you have to check out Blind Man and Blind Enthusiasm next trip. Think Keep Six is even going to start working with Blind Enthusiasm in Ontario soon.

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I met Doug at BE when he was interning at Cantillon and been looking forward to trying his beer out

Going to have 2 days in Calgary this summer. Sunday afternoon to Tuesday lunch inclusive. Part of a larger Banff/Jasper trip.

I want to be able to try as many Alberta brewed beers as possible so I typically look for beer bars instead of breweries. Food a plus. List so far has CRAFT Beer Market, Last Best Brewing, Hop in Brew Pub, Trolley 5 and Proof (food looks good even with limited taps).

We like walking and exploring neighborhoods wherever we are. We'll be checking out Glenbow and the Contemporary so we'll be downtown for at least an afternoon. Any other areas?

Going to have 2 days in Calgary this summer. Sunday afternoon to Tuesday lunch inclusive. Part of a larger Banff/Jasper trip.

I want to be able to try as many Alberta brewed beers as possible so I typically look for beer bars instead of breweries. Food a plus. List so far has CRAFT Beer Market, Last Best Brewing, Hop in Brew Pub, Trolley 5 and Proof (food looks good even with limited taps).

We like walking and exploring neighborhoods wherever we are. We'll be checking out Glenbow and the Contemporary so we'll be downtown for at least an afternoon. Any other areas?

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If you go to Proof you will be on the block i live on! If you want to setup an IP trade i would be happy to.

I would suggest skipping Hop in Brew, Craft has good variation, Last Best is great but only serves Last Best beer, Bottlescrew Bills is great and in the same area. I dont think we really have a great beer bar here at least not one I have been to. Few breweries to visit though, Zero Issue, Dandy, Cold Garden to name a few!

I'm headed to Calgary in a couple weeks, then to Canmore, Jasper, then looping through Red Deer back to Calgary. I'd welcome any recommendations of breweries and bottle shops along the way, as well as beer and Canadian whiskey recommendations.